EU: Emissions of climate-changing greenhouse gases in the EU rose by 18 million tonnes in 2004 due to increased use of air conditioning and a boom in road transport.
The increase, which equates to the amount of carbon dioxide produced by three million people driving their cars around the earth, is the second in consecutive years and threatens Europe's ability to meet its target for emissions reductions under the Kyoto agreement.
Official figures due to be published today by the European Environment Agency (EEA) show greenhouse gas emissions increased by 0.4 per cent in 2004, when compared to the previous year. This means that the 15 EU states covered by Kyoto have reduced emissions by just 0.9 per cent since 1990. Under Kyoto, they are supposed to reduce emissions by 8 per cent on average between 2008-2012.
EEA chief executive Prof Jacqueline McGlade warned yesterday that despite all the policy initiatives in Europe made over the past six years, the trend was going the wrong way.
"Europe must implement all planned policies and measures relating to reducing greenhouse gas emissions," she said.
"The forthcoming national allocation plans for 2008-2012 under the EU emissions trading scheme must also be ambitious in the context of national commitments to reduce emissions."
The report by the EEA highlights that increases in iron and steel production, increased use of air conditioning and a boom in road transport were some of the principle causes of an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
Prof McGlade's comments come as the European Commission assesses national plans for the emissions trading scheme, which suffered a blow last month when it emerged that national governments allowed industries to emit too much gas without incurring penalties.
The over-allocation by states caused the price of carbon permits that are bought and sold on the trading system to swing widely, undermining confidence in the market.
The commission has warned it will get tough with states in a new round of national allocations due to be finalised shortly.
A breakdown of member states' greenhouse gas emissions in the report shows that emissions in Ireland grew by 0.1 per cent to 68.5 million tonnes. This is 22.7 per cent above 1990 levels, when the Republic produced just 55.8 million tonnes.